Hilton Head, Jasper Co. get state money for bridge, exit projects. What it means for you
Nearly half of the state money available for road construction was awarded Tuesday to Beaufort and Jasper counties, giving a clearer path forward for the U.S. 278 corridor project on Hilton Head Island and Hardeeville’s I-95 exit.
The projects got final approval from the South Carolina Joint Bond Review Committee on Tuesday. Last month, the state recommended approval of a $120 million grant for the Hilton Head project and a $56 million award (half is a grant, half is a loan) for the Hardeeville project.
Local politicians took credit for successfully lobbying the state for the money, but Tuesday’s formality means fewer uncertainties about funding. That’s important for Beaufort County residents, who are already paying a sales tax to fund the Hilton Head bridge project.
The State Infrastructure Board had $363 million to award for projects on Tuesday, and $176 million of that pot went to the two Lowcountry road projects. S.C. Rep. Jeff Bradley called the final decision on the funding a “milestone event (that) resulted from a tremendous team effort years in the making. It is a tribute to the strength of our area’s seniority and respect as a unified delegation at the State level,” he said.
Construction on the Hilton Head corridor project won’t begin until late 2023. The S.C. Department of Transportation is announcing the final plan for the corridor this fall, but many residents, including those in the historic Stoney community at the foot of the bridges, worry that the plan will displace more people and not adequately solve traffic congestion problems.
A petition to reject all of SCDOT’s plans circulated in 2019, and groups like the Coalition of Island Neighbors have pressed the Town Council — which will inevitably vote on the final DOT plan — to scrutinize it.
S.C. Sen. Tom Davis told The Island Packet he was supporting a request from Stoney neighbors to hire an independent consultant to look for ways to change SCDOT’s options to help protect the neighborhoods.
Construction on the new bridges and corridor is scheduled to last five to six years, according to SCDOT.
In Hardeeville, the exit 3 project would create a new interchange at Purrysburg Road and I-95. The $82.4 million interchange is planned in an area teeming with growth opportunities. The planned interchange is closely connected to the RiverPort development and the highly anticipated Jasper Ocean Terminal.
The RiverPort development is in a Qualified Opportunity Zone — a population consensus tract with either a poverty rate of at least 20% or a median family income that does not exceed 80% of the area’s median income.
In January 2019, state transportation officials approved a project to widen I-95 from Yemassee to Georgia in the hopes of alleviating traffic congestion and standstills caused by accidents. That project is scheduled to begin in three years,
Hardeeville Mayor Harry Williams said the exit project would be completed by the start of I-95 widening.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 12:34 PM.
